


Nothing Much

by SandfireKat



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Birthday Party, Breaking and Entering, Carly may or may not be IT, Everyone's actually completely happy for once so it's a little strange enjoy it while it lasts, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Glassman really just can't get a break on his cheeseburger, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-29 18:33:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13932852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandfireKat/pseuds/SandfireKat
Summary: Requested by anonymous: Can you do a drabble/story where it’s Shaun’s birthday and he’s super excited. Claire asks what he’s doing and he says Glassman is taking him out to dinner but Claire decides he needs a proper party so the team sneaks into his apartment and surprises him. Melendez acts all indifferent and says this is stupid but he bought a cake and they can all totally see the price tag and they know that he cares. Shaun is put out because he KNOWS he locked his door and how the hell did they get in but he can’t stop smiling all night.Shaun is pretty easy to please. He doesn't need a lot to be happy. Which is probably why he told Claire not to worry about his birthday. He seemed perfectly content with just having dinner, and nothing else. Or that was what he said, anyway. She isn't so sure, and she certainly isn't as prepared as he is to let such a day slip by without proper celebration. Shaun is special to her, and special to a lot of people at Saint Bonaventure. If he didn't see that already, then they were all more than prepared to show that to him.





	Nothing Much

**Author's Note:**

> This work is a result of a request made to me by an anonymous person on my tumblr blog thegooddoctorheacanons. If you like it, I'd love to hear your feedback, and I'd really appreciate you checking out of the other shorter snippets of writing I have on there! <3  
> This work is much shorter than any of my other ones, which was a little weird, but I liked it all the same! It's not every day I get to do such a light-hearted piece, so I hope you all like it as much as I liked writing it! I tried to go through and edit it to the best of my ability, but I always miss a few typos. If any of them are glaring, I'd love to fix them! Along with anything else that might need fixing.  
> (I didn't make Shaun have a Feb 14th birthday, just to make it easier, haha.)

Shaun was usually pretty tight-lipped, when it came down to it. He wasn't someone that chattered endlessly, and he wasn't anybody that opened up very easily, either. He was the exact opposite. He was like box that was nailed shut, and the only way you could see what was inside was by prying it apart. He kept his past to himself, and his favorite conversations were ones that were short and succinct. It made him easy to please, of course, but it also kind of made him a mystery.

In typical situations, it was hard not to know a lot about your coworkers, when you were with each other as frequently as they were. Claire knew that Jared had an affinity for Gummi Bears, and that he harbored a deep-seated hatred for commercial jingles (so naturally, Claire would always sing some so they would get stuck in his head). She knew Jared was a dog person not a cat person, and that his favorite soda was Cherry Pepsi. She knew his grandma's name, and she knew the name of his childhood crush, thanks to funny anecdotes shared over shifts.

But Shaun…Claire knew next to nothing. She knew the bare basics, and nothing more.

Which was why when he came in one morning a little brighter than usual, and she'd asked what had him so chipper, she was floored when he replied: "It's my birthday."

She was so shocked, she nearly dropped what she was holding. They were all papers from a patient file she was brushing up on; she'd taken it this morning figuring Shaun had all the information already memorized, in that genius head of his. In order to keep it in her hands, she had to scramble to catch it all. Once she did, she straightened, and her eyes flew wide. "Your birthday!?" she echoed, and he seemed a little disconcerted at her sharp reaction. Once the shock passed, though, a smile was quick to fold over her face. A smile that was soft, and bright. "Today is your birthday?" she defined, and he nodded once. "That's— wow! I wish you would have told me! I would have brought you a present, Shaun!"

He shrugged. "It's okay. I don't need presents."

"Nobody needs presents," she agreed. "But that's one of the best things about birthdays! You gotta have presents!" She paused and asked with a grin: "What do you have planned for today? How are you going to celebrate?" She looked down at the file she was holding and added with a bit drier humor: "Besides doing awesome things including, but not limited to, gallbladder removals?"

"I'm doing the gallbladder removal," Shaun replied, and she snorted with laughter. The edges of his lips pulled upwards in a grin. He looked off to the side and shook his head once. "Doctor Glassman is taking me to dinner, tonight, once I'm finished with my shift," he answered more truthfully. She smiled and warmed at this. Going by his voice, he was really looking forward to it. She said nothing, leaving open space for him to continue and say what else was lined up. But when he realized she was still waiting for something, he clarified: "That's it."

She blinked a couple times. "T-That's it?" she repeated. He nodded. "That can't be it, Shaun!" she protested, feeling only the tiniest bit guilty when he deflated with uncertainty. "You've got to go all out for birthdays! You have to party, and celebrate! It only happens once a year, and it's a day all to you, after all!" She knew her birthdays were usually packed to the brim. True that nowadays, they'd gotten less so, just because she was usually so busy and too focused on other things. But if anybody deserved a big blowout, it was Shaun! "You should do something!" she encouraged. "Go somewhere! Jared and I would be happy to go with you," she offered, a little more hesitant, just in case the issue was he had nobody else to be with.

But he was quick to shake his head again. "I don't have to do anything else," he replied. "I like having dinner with Doctor Glassman. That's all I need to be happy. I never do a lot." He glanced at her – and her dubious expression – before his eyes flickered down to the folder she was holding. Without saying anything, he reached over and took it out of her hands so he could open it and examine the contents. She let him, though she still studied him close. Her eyes were crowding with thought the longer she stared.

However, he didn't look at her again to pick up on this. He didn't say anything, either— the conversation seemed to have died. After a second, still wearing a tiny frown on her face, Claire sidled close to him so she could look at the file, too.

Every so often, her eyes would flicker back to him.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

A knock on the door roused Glassman from his work. He looked away from his computer and called out a soft "Come in." He was fully expecting the intruder to be Shaun, here with some kind of question or other. Usually when they had plans like this, that hadn't been established for a long time, the younger would make sure to clarify the time and arrangement of everything about three times, so there was no chance of miscommunication, or forgetting. Not that Glassman would be opposed to his visiting— it would be more than a welcome distraction, right about now, actually. So when he looked up anticipating him, he was a little shocked to see Claire standing in the doorway instead. She'd never sought him out explicitly. "Oh— hello," he greeted.

"Hello, Doctor Glassman," she returned, clasping her hands together as she walked inside. It seemed like she found this to be just as off-putting as he did. The last time they had really interacted had been when he was encouraging her to talk to someone about the patient she had lost. He didn't even know how that whole situation had turned out, now that he thought about it. "I had a question for you, if you had the time," she continued, reluctantly.

"I have all the time in the world, unfortunately," Glassman replied with a smile. He abandoned his work for the moment, breathing a sigh of relief as he did, and he turned to face her fully. "Is there something wrong?" Usually nobody came to him just to say hello, unless they were Shaun. That was why he was so happy when he was coming into the room, and it wasn't Aoki with another crisis on her hands, or Melendez there to ask for help dealing with something. Usually that 'something' tended to be either Shaun, or a perplexing patient case.

All in all, about 95.6% of all work interruptions were Shaun, or Shaun related. Somehow, he was tempted to believe this encounter would also be apart of that percentage. He'd put money on it, anyway— a hefty sum.

"Oh no, there's no trouble," Claire reassured him quickly. He nodded, and she cracked a smile. "No, I just…I just found it out it's Shaun's birthday, today," she said. She didn't mistake the softness that seemed to melt his gaze the mention. It made her smile even more, and her voice to be a little surer when she continued. "He just told me a while ago…he said that you were taking him out to dinner tonight for it?"

"Yes, I am," Glassman replied. "It's been a tradition of sorts, to go out on special occasions. Shaun's birthday classifies as one." He said this a little teasingly. Though his smile dropped when he asked instead: "Why? Is there a problem? Did…you want to do something with him, tonight?" The question came out a bit awkward.

She didn't blame him, but she was quick to move past the fact. She didn't want to linger too much and run the risk of blushing. "No, or— well, I mean…" She took in a sharp breath and shook her head once. She started over. "I actually wanted to put a surprise party together for him," she said, and watched as Glassman's eyes lit up in a cross between surprise and happiness. "Yeah, I was asking around a little bit, when his back was turned, or when I was sent off, and…I've got a couple people that would want to help throw one, and be there." She beamed. "Shaun's got a lot of friends here at the hospital, and we all think he'd be doing himself a disservice by not having a party."

A smile was tugging at the edge of Glassman's lips, but, fairly, he warned her all the same: "Shaun isn't really a fan of parties."

"Oh, I know," she reassured. "That's why it's only a few people. And…it wouldn't be anything big, but…I'd like to do something, for him. I think it would be nice." She could tell from the look on the other's face that he agreed with her. So she went into her next part a little braver. "But, we need time to set it up, after everyone gets off of work. So…I wanted to ask you for a little favor."

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"How was your Gallbladder Birthday?" Jared asked, shrugging off his coat and hanging it up in his locker. The three of them were just drawing their shift to a close, trading out into their street clothes and gathering together all their things. Shaun looked over at Jared at the question, and Jared cracked a teasing grin. "Nothing says 'Happy Birthday' like tearing an organ out of someone, am I right? I remember my sixth birthday— it was just like that."

Shaun stared at him blankly. He turned around again and started to wriggle his backpack out of his locker. "That was a joke," he noted, mostly to himself, but also loud enough to be heard.

"Super Sleuth Shaun," Jared snickered, closing his own door and shrugging on his pack. "You would be correct. I didn't actually reach into my friend as a toddler and rip out their heart. Pretty sure that would have landed me somewhere in the psychiatric wards. Yes, it was a joke." Shaun turned back to him, and stiffened when Jared suddenly lurched towards him and threw him a deadly serious stare. "Or was it?" Shaun jerked a little bit as Jared locked him with crazy eyes and wiggled his fingers menacingly. He took a tiny step back.

Claire slammed her own door, causing Shaun to jump, and she looped over to stand with them. "Leave him alone, Jared, it's his birthday. Give him a break from you being weird." Jared made a gesture that seemed to say, 'Fair enough' and she flashed a smile at Shaun. "I hope you have a wonderful time at your birthday dinner, Shaun." He smiled. "Order the most expensive thing on the menu," she added, with a wink. "Glassman is automatically obligated to pay for it."

"Am I?" The three turned around at once at the voice to see Glassman waiting in the doorway. He was eyeing her skeptically, and Claire grinned with embarrassment, reaching back to scratch her head. The older man turned to Shaun expectantly. "Are you almost ready?" he prompted. "Our reservation is in thirty minutes." He glanced at his watch as he said this, catching Claire's gaze as he looked down. She intertwined her fingers and looked at Shaun with a barely-suppressed smile of eagerness.

Shaun was none the wiser because he was already leaving them behind. "Yes. I'm ready," he replied. He was about to leave the room entirely, when he seemed to remember the other two, and he turned only to offer a tiny goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow," he promised, like he usually did, as if that was ever a question. Claire repeated the farewell to him, having to work to suppress her grin even more when she did. Jared elbowed her to get the stupid look off her face. It backfired and made it even harder.

Shaun turned and headed out. Glassman looked at Claire one last time, with a tiny wink, before he turned and followed. It left Jared and Claire standing together in silence, neither of them moving at first. They just looked after them, as if they weren't sure what to do. But the opposite was true— they were just pausing because they knew exactly what was needing to be done, and they weren't sure where to start. That much was evident when they did move— when they whirled around leapt into motion at the same time, smacking into each other in the process. They shoved and pushed, in a mutual effort to heave the other off, before they sprinted for the door.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"You realize this entire plan is depending on the fact that you told us you could pick locks," Claire notified in a bland monotone.

"I can pick locks!" Jared snapped, clearly frazzled. "I picked tons of locks in college, I was practically making people pay me for it, I was asked so many times!"

"That's not at all helpful because this is years later and you've been working on it for like ten minutes," Claire drawled. She paused and added: "And that's really creepy, Jared."

"It's not creepy, it's a useful life skill!" he objected. "You never know when you're going to need it!"

"Well, we need it now," she said helpfully. "So if you could manage it…"

Jared blew out his cheeks. He was kneeling down in front of Shaun's door, bending out close to the doorknob. He'd brought a paperclip with him, and when they'd reached the locked door, he'd brought it out with a flourish, promising no less than two minutes. It was going on twelve, by now. Claire was leaning against the wall, juggling the gifts they'd all gotten after work, along with all the paper she still needed to wrap them in. Carly was standing by her looking just as bored, in charge of holding all the balloons— and there were quite a lot of balloons. She was practically invisible behind them.

Melendez was there, too. Which was fantastic, because neither of the two residents thought he would care enough to show up. But it was also bad because he was now staring dismally down at Jared, looking like he was ten seconds away from straight up kicking him away from the door to let him take over. Their attending was holding the cake— he'd stopped and gotten one on the way over, having a message written on it and everything. In shiny frosting, was a gleeful message of 'Happy Birthday Shaun!'

It was pretty adorable.

Stacked around them in the hall was everything else— all the other decorations they'd snagged off of sales racks, and things of that nature. It was a real mess; if any of these other people came out into the hall, they would find that their apartment building was starting to look more like if a tornado had blown through a Party City. "You're as good at picking locks as you are at suturing," Melendez commented, Claire stopping short to try and figure out whether he was being serious. Their teacher scowled when Jared only tried jamming the clip in farther. "By the time you figure out what you're doing, it's going to be midnight."

"You don't have to stay," Claire burst out, before she could stop herself. Melendez turned and looked at her, seeming almost surprised. But if it was between the two of them, she was probably the one who was more caught off-guard. After all…he was actually here. When she'd mentioned it to him earlier, it had only been in passing, and it hadn't even been much of an invitation, if she was being honest. Whatever invitation she'd given, it had been mostly sarcastic, just because she knew he would never want to do anything like this. And yet here he stood. "I mean…you probably have somewhere better to be than just watching Jared poke at a door," she tried to laugh off.

"I'm not poking at it!" the other objected. "It's a technique!"

She ignored him.

Melendez seemed more embarrassed now, and he shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Well, I mean— it's not—" Even Jared stopped for a second to turn and look up at him, his eyebrows a little raised. Melendez immediately flared. "Get back to opening up the door!" he snapped, and Jared immediately lurched back. So quickly he practically slammed his head against the wood. Their teacher's eyes stayed narrowed, though. He muttered a little ungracefully: "I don't have anything else going on." Claire's expression started to crack into a smile. "I might as well be here. Until something better comes up."

She nodded once, deciding not to press any more. She just looked back at Jared, disappointment once again settling over her face. "You're the worst at this," she said after a second, just to break the quiet. Jared rolled his eyes. "If you had a YELP, I would leave a horrible review."

"Don't get me started on horrible reviews," he growled out of the corner of his mouth. "You would have negative two stars."

"Hey, what's going on?"

Everyone gathered whirled around at the new voice. A man was standing at the end of the hall, having just stepped out of the elevator. He was looking at them the way someone would watch a worm sprout legs and walk away. Claire didn't blame him. The hallway was literally crowded with confetti that had yet to be unpacked and spread and streamers that had yet to be hung up, along with about ten other kinds of decorations. They looked a sight, too. Every one of them was wearing those cone party hats so they wouldn't have to carry them, though Claire was wearing four— hers, Glassman's, Shaun's, and Melendez's, because he sure as hell wasn't putting it on yet, if he even ever would. The way Carly was standing, behind all her balloons, made her look like she only had the bottom half of a human, and the rest was just helium and latex. That, or she was It. Either one.

And to cap it off, Jared was still kneeling on the ground, jamming a paperclip into the lock of the apartment door and yanking on it every so often. Looking back at the newcomer, Jared actually froze mid-pull, looking like a kid that got caught stealing out of the cookie jar. That didn't really help their case, either. The stranger took all this in and pursed his lips, looking over his shoulder as if to check if anyone else was seeing this. "You guys have got to be the weirdest robbers I've ever seen." But then he pursed his lips and seemed to rethink it, because he mumbled after a second: "Okay, second weirdest."

"We're not robbers," Melendez objected.

The stranger made a face. "That seems like something a robber would say," he reasoned.

Melendez opened his mouth to argue more, when he cut off and looked down at the cake he was holding, and the mess of balloons and confetti packets scattered around them. Then he went silent, just falling into confused and disappointed silence. The stranger stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked at Jared, who was still just jabbing uselessly at the door. By this point, they were going to grow moss waiting for him to get it open. "What are you guys robbing?" he asked. "Because if I were a robber, that guy has the most fantastic television. Definitely gotta go for that."

Carly piped up from where she was obscured behind the tower of balloons. The guy looked over at her like he was just now noticing her. "Right now, we're doing a really good job of stealing all the fun out of this idea." Her voice was muffled.

Jared fumed. "Shut up, Carly," he grumbled.

The stranger cracked a grin. "Yeah, I can see that. You've got that down at least."

Claire cleared her throat, jostling the bags and boxes in her arms. "We're trying to get into Shaun's apartment, so we can throw a surprise party for him. It's his birthday today." The other straightened a bit; he looked just as surprised as she was. Apparently, Shaun was just as closed-off from his neighbors, too. She wasn't sure whether or not that was comforting. "You wouldn't…" Her forehead creased with uncertainty— she knew it was kind of a long shot, and yet anything would be better than what was happening right now. It would be nightmare if Shaun walked in when everything was everywhere and such a mess. "We need to get in there before he does, and this isn't working so far. You wouldn't know a way to get in there, would you?"

The stranger said nothing. But the smile he was wearing got about ten times bigger.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"There's no rush, Shaun," Glassman reminded, for about the third time. Shaun blinked, looking up from his food in something close to confusion. Glassman was taking his time in eating his meal, but Shaun was almost done with his. At this point, they would be leaving long before Glassman wanted them to. Claire had asked him to make sure they took at least a few hours to eat, so that the others had time to set up the party. It had only been an hour and a half, so far. They wouldn't even be close to being done.

"I know," Shaun replied. He looked at Glassman's plate and hedged: "You're eating much slower than you usually do."

Glassman looked down, blinking a little fast. He felt a jolt in the pit of his stomach. He was never the best when it came to lying. Call it moral values, call it just bad skills in general, but either way, it was the truth. And Shaun was the most observant person he'd ever known— it was going to be hard to wave this all off. "I just like the food," he said eventually. "There's no sense in rushing through something if you want to savor it." Shaun seemed dubious, but let it drop. Thankfully. He just took another bite of his food.

Glassman tried to keep conversation up, so Shaun would be forced to talk more than he could eat. But it was useless, and pretty soon, Shaun was finished, with nothing left on his plate. The younger eyed him a little awkwardly; Glassman still had about half his dinner left. Glassman hesitated and looked down at his plate, sneaking a glance at his watch. Still not close to time to leave. His brain was overheating, trying to figure out what he could do to delay, without being caught.

After a beat of silence, he suddenly declared: "You know…they cooked this wrong."

Shaun looked at the food, puzzled. "You…just said you liked it," he pointed out.

He bit back a sting of frustration that Shaun was once again right. "That was before I realized they'd cooked it wrong," Glassman objected. Shaun opened his mouth to argue, but Glassman was already turning around, searching the restaurant for their waiter. "It's okay, I'll just have them send it back," he announced.

Shaun's face fell. His shoulders drooped, and he looked down at his empty plate with a tiny frown.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"What are you doing!?" Claire blustered.

Jared looked up, slightly alarmed. He was holding one of the balloons that weren't filled with helium. His job now was to arrange them on the floor in a pattern that wasn't seen as a total mess. He'd just been stooping down to place one on the wood. Now he stopped, and looked at her oddly. "I was…putting this down," he said, the words slow.

"Don't put it there," she objected. She took it from him and walked three feet to the left, before letting it fall. "Put it here," she pressed, once she straightened.

Jared straightened too. He stared down at it, before he nodded and gestured grandly. "Oh, yeah," he fawned. "That really brightens up the room. Really makes a difference, being in that exact spot. You're a genius. If I'd put it right there, this whole party would be a real disaster." She threw him a look that was a cross between a smile and a glare, before she swept back to the kitchen counter so she could finish wrapping the last present. Jared turned and called out: "Kenny, did you get the TV to work?"

Kenny was hunkered down in front of the television. "It's getting there," he sighed. "I had to hook it to mine— he has like ten channels, and one of those is in Spanish." Getting a music station to play through his TV was proving to be more difficult than first anticipated. Nevertheless, it turns out Kenny was the jack of all trades; while he was useful at breaking into people's houses, he was also gifted at working a TV.

"He's going to hate this," Melendez announced, arranging the cake in the center of the table and dusting confetti all around it. Carly was nearby, tying the balloons down so they wouldn't float up to the ceiling. Claire looked up from her wrapping. "He hates surprises and he hates messes, so your birthday gift to him is basically taking both of those things and shoving them in his face." He flashed his resident a look, only half-teasing.

"We're making sure it's not a mess," Claire protested. "And we won't yell surprise very loud. It's not like it's a huge bash...it's just a little get-together. He'll like it."

"At least you seem to be sure," Melendez mused, shaking his head. "I think it'll backfire." A small pause, before: "Of course, it doesn't matter to me either way."

Carly threw him a look with raised eyebrows. "Then why are you here?" she grinned. "You didn't have to come." She blinked, and her eyes were drawn to the cake— at the personal message that Melendez went so far as to put on there without prompt, and her smile widened. "How much was that cake?" she demanded. Instantly, Melendez soured, throwing more confetti onto the table. Practically fastballing it. "C'mooon, how much was it?" she asked, giggling when he stayed mute. "Just give a number!"

"No, I don't want to," Melendez returned evenly.

"Was it thirty dollars?" Carly asked. Melendez said nothing. "Forty?" He frowned even more. She shook her head, stepping away from her balloons. "You didn't pay fifty dollars for that cake, did you?" she asked. Claire watched the back-and-forth, grinning. "Melendez, if you say nothing right now, I will be under the impression you paid fifty dollars for that cake. I will leave this party knowing that you spent half a hundred dollars on sugar and frosting."

"It was sixty!" he snapped. "Okay? It was sixty dollars for this cake!"

She snorted; her eyes went wide. Claire's did too. Even Jared looked up from his decorating.

"What!?" Melendez growled.

Nobody said anything. Instead, surprisingly, Kenny did the honors. He didn't even look up from what he was doing with the TV. "That's a really expensive cake, dude," he drawled. Melendez turned, looking furious. Kenny didn't even see. "You can get one from Dairy Queen for like…twenty bucks." He tilted his head to the side. "Ten, if you know a guy," he added softly, more to himself.

Melendez scrambled to defend the purchase, for some reason. "It's not expensive for a good cake," he said, stressing the word 'good.' "Sure, if you want to get some crappy one from the grocery store, it'll be cheaper, but…" He trailed off.

Carly snickered. "You totally care," she noticed simply.

Melendez threw her a glare, but she was already going back to arranging her balloons.

He started to turn the glare over to Claire, but she quickly looked back at her wrapping before he could. Though the smile stayed warm on her face even when she ducked away.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"No, no, it's no trouble. Thank you." Glassman sighed as he looked down once again at a plate full of food. It was the third time he had sent something back, and by this point, he was running out of ways to complain and nitpick. He was going to be sure to leave a fantastic tip to make up for all the trouble he was causing. Along with an explanation of why he'd had to stall, if he could manage it.

But there wasn't a tip he could leave for Shaun, to get the miserable look off of his face. Because he truly did look miserable. There was a sullen frown on his face, and he stared at this third plate of food as if it only existed to make his life harder. Which, at least at this point, it did. Noticing Glassman's attention was on him, Shaun's eyes went back down to the plate, and he announced softly: "This is the worst birthday dinner I've ever had." Which stung a little, because alright, maybe he'd caused three tiny confrontations, and by this point the second-hand embarrassment was palpable, but Glassman still thought it was a pretty okay time.

He searched Shaun's face for a second before he countered: "So far."

Shaun blanched for a second, caught off-guard by the argument. He considered it for a second, before he seemed to reason that it was a good point, because he tilted his head to the side a bit and didn't object. He just looked back at the table; by now, Glassman wouldn't be surprised if Shaun had memorized the pattern of the wood grain. He checked his watch— it was just about nine. He hesitated, looking at the new plate of food with a frown. Given how many times he'd sent dishes back and picked at them, he'd eaten way too much for one dinner. It was getting close enough…wasn't it?

He turned and motioned for the check, and Shaun only sank into his misery more. "We're leaving?" he asked, looking at the plate still in front of Glassman. "You haven't eaten your food yet."

"Yes I did," Glassman argued.

"Why did you ask for another plate if you weren't going to eat it?"

"I did."

Shaun stared at it like it was a new and confusing species of bacteria. He looked around, like he was searching for hidden cameras for a prank show. But his spirit must have been pretty dead, because he didn't fight anymore, even though the argument was clearly inside him. He just watched Glassman in disgruntled silence. Glassman hoped, for all of their sake, that Shaun ended up liking this surprise party, because if not, then Aaron had just helped to officially make it probably the worst day of his life.

He only realized now that they'd put all their eggs into one, questionable basket.

He paid for the dinner and left more than a sizeable tip. He hid it so that Shaun wouldn't see and turned to flash him a smile, ignoring the morose expression that was still on his face. "Alright," he sighed. "Let's go."

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

They'd gotten the text a minute ago, that Glassman and Shaun were on their way up. It was perfect timing; they had just gotten everything situated and right. The presents were wrapped, the music was playing, the apartment was decorated to the nines for the occasion, and all that was left to complete the picture was the birthday boy. They forewent hiding and jumping out— it was unspoken knowledge that Shaun would hate each and every one of them for the rest of his days if they leapt out at him and screamed. They all just stood around the kitchen table and waited there, in plain sight. Claire had lit the candles of the cake, and they were all just surrounding the back half of the table, waiting eagerly.

Shaun opened the door and stepped over the threshold, Glassman keeping up behind him. And no sooner did Shaun's eyes widen in confusion and shock, did the five people already inside fling their arms up in the air and call: "Surprise!" Even Melendez cheered and smiled, gesturing to the cake he'd purchased. Shaun was stiff as a board, and his eyes were the size of moons. He said nothing, just staring at all the balloons and streamers, and presents, then down at the cake. Claire laughed and hopped up and down. "Happy birthday, Shaun!" she gushed. "We wanted to throw you a party!"

Eventually, tearing his eyes away from everything else, Shaun stuttered out a stunned: "Why?"

Her smile weaned a bit. She tilted her head to the side. "Because it's your birthday, and we wanted to celebrate you! Because you mean so much to us!" Jared smiled, and Carly nodded earnestly. Melendez smiled a tiny fraction, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. "We couldn't let you not do anything for your birthday!" Claire objected. "You're fantastic, so you deserve a fantastic party! So…here we are!"

Shaun stared at the (slightly controlled) chaos, slowly climbing over the initial hurdle of shock. He took it all in, looking around. Glassman was watching him carefully, and the others started to deflate in a little awkwardness and uncertainty. This was just going to be embarrassing for all of them if Shaun told them he didn't like parties, or if he asked them to leave. When he spoke again, his voice was just still cautious. He looked over his shoulder, past Glassman, to the door. "I thought…the door was—" He looked back, and his eyes fell on his neighbor. He sighed, in something close to exasperation. "Kenny." The name came out on its own, flat and a little disapproving.

"It's an art," Kenny declared, and Jared threw him a glare.

"Do you like it, Shaun?" Claire asked, more worried, now.

He looked at her, and then around the apartment again. "You did this for me?" he asked, in frank disbelief. It made even more affection rush to warm her chest. Her heart began to lift when a smile started to worm its way over his lips.

"Of course!" she chirped. "You're our friend; we had to go all out! I asked Glassman to distract you during dinner, and take a little longer, so we had the time to put everything up." He turned and looked at Aaron in alarm, and he raised his hands in surrender. Shaun's smile was growing steadily. She beckoned him closer, beaming as she gestured to the cake, which the candles were dangerously close to melting all over. "Melendez even bought you a cake!" she said, and Shaun looked at his teacher in shock. He just offered him a shrug. "You have to come and make a wish!" Claire urged. "They're going to make a mess, pretty soon."

He smiled sheepishly. Clasping his hands together, he started forward. Once he stopped in front of the cake, Claire put out her hand to stop him. She cleared her throat and looked around very importantly. As a whole, Glassman included, all the guests leapt into the obligatory song. "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Shaun! Happy birthday to you!" He looked off to the side, more than a little embarrassed. But laughter bordered Claire's singing, as she realized he was fighting a smile.

Once they were done, his smile was back with strength. He turned, beaming happily, and leaned over to blow out each candle in one fell swoop.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

All night, that smile stayed. Claire cut the cake and handed out pieces, only after she rushed over to plant birthday hats on Shaun and Glassman, both. Only then would Melendez accept his own, and she had to admit, she had to stifle a snort when she saw her teacher in the little pointed hat. They had cake and laughed at Glassman's lament about the restaurant, and how he felt bad he'd ruined the servers' nights, and the cooks', as well.

From the cake, they moved on to presents. Or…present, would be the better idea. It was one main gift, along with a couple follow-ups. Everyone there had chipped in to buy him a record player, along with, of course, vinyls to play. Recently, he had been listening to music more. Claire – and Glassman, too – were sticklers in the fact that music always sounded better on records. So the idea to get him all of this seemed perfect, and it seemed to pay off, going by how ecstatic he had been once he'd torn away the paper.

They laughed and talked until well in the night, despite the fact they had work the next day. Kenny and Jared started a thumb wrestling championship that Claire and Shaun wanted nothing to do with. Glassman and Melendez, the oldest there, naturally gravitated to the other to start conversation over something that was much too boring for a party. So Claire and Carly and Shaun drifted to the living room and they set up the record player, to test it out and set it on its maiden voyage.

This quickly evolved into makeshift karaoke, initiated mostly by Shaun, which was a shock. Neither of the girls complained, though. Instead, they immediately took to dancing and hopping around the room, belting out a chorus that wasn't exactly on-pitch, but was filled with effort anyway, which should still be recognized. "'Cause they're just girls, breaking hearts! Eyes bright, uptight, just girls!" Claire swept out and took Shaun's hand, while Carly took the other, and they fell into a dance that was mostly just swaying and hopping, because you can't do much else with three people at once. But still, they all wore huge grins as they continued to sing. "Well, she can't be what you need, if she's seventeen! They're just girls! They're just girls!"

Melendez and Glassman were audience members, and while Glassman gave them a ten for effort, Melendez gave them a 3.4 on performance. It wasn't the highest average in the world.

After Kenny defeated Jared in the thumb wrestling competition, further tarnishing Jared's reputation beyond repair, he was high on success, and turned to challenge Shaun to a push-up competition. Shaun would rather have kept singing, but Claire had encouraged him not to back down, and Melendez had called out that his youngest resident could beat anyone in anything. Possibly as a result of the few beers he had had, but there was no mistaking the immediate flush Shaun had at the explicit praise.

He accepted the challenge with clear reluctance, and everyone gathered around them in a circle as they got into position on the ground. Jared was a referee, because they had both told him that he wasn't involved in this challenge and he had failed too many times tonight to have another chance to. He was in charge of counting Kenny's push-ups, and Claire took Shaun's. Carly counted down from three for their start— Shaun looked nervous, and Kenny looked more than prepared to cream him. Glassman was standing off to the side, trying to stifle a smirk, like he knew something the others didn't.

When it started, they were both even for a long stretch of time. They did their push up in sync, doing way more than Claire would have been able to do. Her and Jared kept up with the count, pretty much even on both ends. They were on eighty-seven when discrepancies started. When Jared and Claire's counts actually started to differ. By then, everyone was actually invested in the outcome of this, given it had lasted this long, and of course, all of the support was for Shaun. No offense to Kenny, of course, but they were a little biased.

"Ninety!" Jared called out.

"Eighty-eight!" Claire agonized.

"C'mon, Shaun!" Melendez yelled, and Shaun closed one eye in a grimace. "Don't let him beat you!"

"Go, Shaun, go!" Carly cheered.

Shaun started going faster, and Claire's counting spiked with excitement. "Eighty-nine! Ninety! Ninety-one!" She was hopping and clapping, unable to cheer him on in any other way. She hoped this was enough.

He started to pick up his pace again, and pass Kenny. Kenny staggered, floundering a little when Shaun only went faster, to leave him in the dust. Jared was counting "Ninety-five, ninety-six!" while Claire had broken into the one hundreds. Kenny tried to pick up the pace, but it was useless. Shaun was in the one hundred and twenties when his neighbor's arms gave out and he hit the ground with a thud. Everyone screamed in triumph, and Shaun was quick to fall back onto his knees, gasping for air. Claire clapped even louder and looked at Shaun with a beam. "You beat him!" she gasped. "Shaun, you won!"

He smiled that embarrassed little grin again. But it was obvious he was more than thrilled.

Glassman was laughing, not surprised in the slightest.

Melendez pumped a fist in the air, much too caught up in the push-up competition. "That's my resident!" he announced to nobody in particular. He tipped the neck of his bottle to Kenny, who was sitting himself up with a puff. "You've got to get up pretty early in the morning, to beat him," he snickered.

Carly called over to Jared, who deflated: "You owe me ten bucks!"

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

By the time everyone was leaving, it was nearly midnight. Melendez left first, after stopping to wish Shaun one more 'Happy birthday.' Of course, to even out that sentiment, he'd added a little harsher not to be late tomorrow, because he wouldn't be forgiving. Carly left next, giving Shaun a big hug and a bright smile. Kenny left third, once all the cake ran out, and he apologized to Shaun for breaking into his house but reassured him that it would definitely happen again.

Glassman left after Kenny, and Shaun thanked him for being obnoxious at the restaurant, because it turns out he had actually had a reason to. "I change my mind," he announced, as Glassman was stepping out the door. "This has been a good birthday. Thank you for distracting me. And thank you for dinner."

"Of course, Shaun." Glassman's eyes were soft. "Always."

The moment Shaun closed the door after the older man, Jared popped one of the balloons on the ground and Shaun whirled around to look at him in alarm. He offered him a grin. "Alright," he sighed. "I think we've done enough damage around here." He stepped forward and patted Shaun's shoulder. "Happy birthday, Shaun," he wished. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Shaun repeated the goodbye, for the second time that night, and watched him go. Claire was the only one left. She was still standing by the table. Looking around at the mess of decorations and confetti and streamers still around, she laughed and said: "Here, I'll stay here and help you pick up. You shouldn't have to clean it all by yourself— it was for your birthday, after all."

"No," Shaun objected, before she could start. She began to argue he shouldn't shoulder the burden himself, when he continued. "I don't want to pick it up, yet. I want to keep it here." She looked at him a little oddly— he hated messes, and this was a pretty big mess. But he seemed adamant, and certain. "This was the best birthday I've had in a long time. I want to remember it. I'll pick it up later."

Her eyes softened; she tipped her head and smiled. "Alright," she said. "Fair enough." A beat of silence passed, where the pair just stared at each other, before she clapped her hands together. "Welp! I should take off, then," she grinned. "Happy birthday, Shaun. I'm very glad we could make this one of your best. It was fun! We'll have to do it again next year! We'll be more organized, then." She gave him a wink and started to make for the door, already having gotten her stuff together.

"Claire." She stopped and turned back, still grinning. Shaun stared at her for a moment, almost thoughtfully. When he spoke, his voice was softer than it normally was, and he chose his words with more care. "Thank you," he began. "For throwing me a party." She softened and was about to reassure him that it really was no trouble at all, when he kept going. "I've never had friends before, to give me a surprise party. Or do things with me like this." She closed her mouth, disbelief and sorrow making a hard-to-swallow cocktail in her stomach. But Shaun was smiling— practically beaming. He wasn't sad at all. "I had a lot of fun. Thank you for caring enough to be with me on my birthday."

She melted. Her voice was soft and choked when she managed a tiny: "You're very welcome, Shaun."

He nodded once, and it seemed to be the end of the conversation. Claire lingered for a heartbeat or so anyway, feeling as if there was more that needed to be said. She almost opened her mouth to at least try. But she bit it back instead. If there was more to say, it was far too much, and they didn't have the time right now. So, she just smiled at her friend one last time before she turned and went out the door like everyone else had. Shaun stayed where he was in the middle of his apartment, studying the door. Before he turned to look around the room.

It was a complete mess. There were still some paper plates lying around, and a few empty drinks, too. Balloons and streamers carpeted the floor so much he could hardly see what was underneath. He stooped down and picked up a piece of confetti that had fallen from the table. Maybe it had been knocked down when Jared and Kenny were battling it out with thumb wars.

How it got there didn't really matter. It was bright blue and shiny; it caught the light when he moved it back and forth. His smile twitched back to life, and he turned to walk into the living room, so he could place it down on top of his dresser. He placed the small piece between the baseball Lea had given him, and the photo of him and Steve. It fit just right.

He stopped to look once more over the remnants of the party. Usually, the mere sight of such a disaster area would set his skin crawling. But when he looked at the disorder now, and lingered in it, he only smiled more. His expression was fond, as he told himself he would clean it up tomorrow, after work.

For now, he just turned, the soft look remaining on his face as he went to get ready for bed.


End file.
